Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne speaks about Ontario's Fair Housing Plan during a press conference in Toronto on April 20, 2017. Wynne is all about the F word.Listen to Ontario's premier speak these days and chances are she'll talk about fairness. It has become her mantra, an idea she ties to nearly every big announcement she has made lately, from a $15 minimum wage to a basic income pilot to housing market cooling measures and rent control.Christopher Katsarov / THE CANADIAN PRESS

James Collura wasn’t fulfilled in his job, so he quit and joined Ontario’s basic income pilot program.

Using his economics degree to get a job at a bank just wasn’t what Collura wanted so he quit once he signed up for the former Liberal government program we were told was supposed to be about reducing poverty.

“I knew basic income would be psychologically and physically freeing,” Collura told the Lindsay Advocate a few months ago.

Freed from having to hold down a job, Collura has found a new purpose. He says he has joined a co-working space and is using his skills in a way that makes him happy.

Though often he isn’t charging for them.

“I work in a building full of entrepreneurs, and have been using my skills to help with event planning, posters, marketing, and social media,” Collura said.

“I’ve even painted the logos of three different businesses (soon to be four) on the walls in their office spaces. I’ve done all of it for free. Zero dollars.”

Zero dollars?

So he is giving away his services for free while living off the basic income after quitting a paying job at a major bank.

Of course, Collura thinks this is all great because he is getting yoga!

Strangely, this is the man the NDP and poverty activists brought to Queen’s Park Wednesday to defend the former Liberal government’s guaranteed income plan.

Critics of the concept, like me, have long said offering people free money will lead to some taking advantage of the situation and just not working.

Collura sure seems to be that guy!

But another recipient the NDP trotted out also fit that mould.

Jessie Golem appeared at the news conference. She denounced the PC government’s plan to scrap the basic income pilot.

Golem is a photographer who sells her services for portraits and weddings. She was also on the guaranteed income despite having a highly employable skill set.

Yet Golem says she and others like her need this program and she wants the government to keep pushing it.

Maybe she wants to go see Elton John again.

Earlier this year Golem posted a photo of her score for Elton John tickets. The piano man plays Scotiabank Arena in Toronto next month and Golem will be there. She bragged on Instagram, “…by some MIRACLE, I got four tickets for $286 each.”

She also posted that next week she is going to the ELO concert. Tickets there range from $79 to $566 each.

Is this what the basic income was meant for?

Allowing people to quit their jobs and work for free? To let otherwise employable people not work but still buy expensive concert tickets?

Collura and Golem are fully employable. How did they even qualify for the former government’s guaranteed income program? And why would the NDP want taxpayers to continue supporting them?

Ontarians are caring and compassionate people, we would support increased funding for those that cannot work. But subsidizing people who don’t want to work?

That’s not on.

The plan Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals brought to Ontario was one that would offer a guaranteed income to everyone, regardless of “work status” as the activists say. It was being tested in Hamilton, Thunder Bay and a few other communities.

Compare that to Quebec where the Liberal government there recently announced that there will be a guaranteed annual income of $18,029 by 2023 for those unable to work.

As for those without a disability but on welfare things are changing too.

In Quebec, you will need to attend training within the first three months of being on welfare. That training will cover job skills and more.

If you skip the training or if you aren’t looking for work then your welfare payment will be cut.

That is the type of reform most Ontarians could get behind.

Paying people to quit their jobs and paint logos for free is not.

Ontario Basic Income Pilot: the basics

WHAT IS IT?

The Ontario Basic Income Pilot is a three-year pilot project by the Liberal government last year in three test cities — Hamilton, Lindsay and Thunder Bay. It gave up to 4,000 low-income earners a basic annual income of about $17,000. Couples would earn about $24,000 and people with disabilities could be eligible for an extra $6,000 on top of the basic income. It guarantees minimum income, regardless of whether they are working or not.

Participants are allowed to work during the pilot project, but their basic income will decrease by 50 cents for every dollar they earn by working.

WHAT IS IT SUPPOSED TO DO?

The pilot project is meant to replace payments available through Ontario Works, which provides financial assistance for low-income earners, and the Ontario Disability Support Program. The participants of the pilot continue to receive the Ontario Drug Benefit and dental benefits.

The goal is to measure outcomes including physical and mental health, housing stability, food security, education and employment.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

The Wynne Liberal government planned to invest $50 million for each year of the three years. A spokesman for the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services confirmed Friday the government has spent about $40 million on the pilot since 2017.

Lisa Macleod, Ontario’s Children, Community and Social Services Minister makes an announcement on welfare rates at the Ontario Legislature in Toronto on Tuesday July 31, 2018. (Chris Young/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

WHAT ARE DOUG FORD’S CONSERVATIVES DOING WITH THE PILOT PROJECT?

Earlier this month, Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod announced that Premier Doug Ford’s government will be “winding down” the pilot, despite a campaign promise to allow the three years to run its course. “There will be a lengthy and compassionate runway,” MacLeod said of phasing out the program, and said further details would be revealed in the coming weeks.

The Ford government is also cutting payments for Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) in half — from the planned increase of 3% to 1.5%.

“The process has not started yet — we will wind down in a compassionate and responsible way and we’ll share more details on the process in the coming weeks. Advance notice of the final payment date will be provided,” said Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services spokesman Kristen Tedesco on Friday.

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